Suspicion that hospitals are charging unfairly high amounts to implant stents in coronary arteries of heart patients has been widespread. An investigative report published in this paper late last week has not only confirmed the suspicion to be true but also highlighted the element of deception ingrained in this medical procedure in the absence of any control and monitoring by the official agency concerned. It has been found that most private hospitals attending cardiac patients are charging even three to four times higher than the actual price of a stent. The government hospitals concerned do also charge higher amounts, but not up to the extent of private hospitals.
It is not just the price of the stents used but some other relevant issues involved in the implantation of stents and heart bypass surgery have also come up. In many cases, stents are implanted or bypass surgeries are performed allegedly by a section of unscrupulous cardiologists and cardiac surgeons respectively just to benefit themselves and the hospitals, financially. The medical procedures could well be avoided by the doctors. However, this is not unique in the case of Bangladesh. A recent study carried out in the USA has found that nearly in 44 per cent of cases, medical procedures like stent implantation and open-heart surgery done on heart patients in that country were not necessary.
In many countries, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons together take decisions about what are to be done about the heart patients. Naturally, it is hard to expect this kind of consultation in a country where control and monitoring in the health sector have been the least. The hospitals, importers of medicines and medical devices and unscrupulous doctors are out to exploit this kind of situation and reap the maximum possible financial benefit for themselves. The 'very rich' section of heart patients usually get their medical procedures done in foreign hospitals since money is no problem for them. It is the patients coming from middle income and poor families who take the main brunt of all evil practices in the country's health sector.
The Drug Administration (DA) is mandated to regulate and monitor the quality and prices of medical devices used for patients. But its performance on this account has been dismal. The DA has never bothered to determine the quality and fix price of stents imported by the private sector. However, this kind of indifference has been very much in line with the overall performance of this all-important public sector entity in the health sector. While non-performance on the part of the DA is deplorable, the act of deceiving the poor patients and their families by hospitals and doctors is also unacceptable. The ministry of health cannot shirk its responsibilities on this count. It should do the needful without any further delay, in order to streamline the use and pricing of medical devices used.
A case of deception and indifference
FE Team | Published: March 09, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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